TMT VP says decision needed 'sooner' than two years

HILO — Although the deadline to begin construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope was pushed back until 2021, project authorities believe a decision about the project’s future will have to be made soon.

“I don’t know what ‘soon’ exactly means in this situation, but definitely sooner than two years,” said Gordon Squires, TMT’s vice president of external affairs.

Squires said Wednesday that the continued inaction on the project — which was scheduled to begin construction on Maunakea in July, but has since been impeded by demonstrators blocking the Maunakea Access Road — may cause some of the project’s partners to reconsider their involvement.

“All of our partners are concerned right now,” Squires said, explaining that the project’s six partners — including government agencies of Canada, Japan and India, the National Astronomy Observatory of China, and the University of California and Caltech — remain committed to building TMT, but have to justify the substantial amount of money they supply the project each year.

Read more: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/08/29/hawaii-news/tmt-vp-says-decision-needed-sooner-than-two-years/

Cross-posted in the Science Group.